Tracking plant pathogens is no simple matter. Due to their possible environmental hidey holes being in the soil, the air, other plants, or the host plants themselves lying dormant, any and every possibility must be accounted for. And the triggers that begin active pathogenicity and harm to the plant is connected to a convoluted system […]
When it comes to growing niche products, any sort of harm to the plants could prove disastrous to the overall yield itself. This is especially so if that plant is only grown in certain regions due to soil and weather requirements. That is the case for the subject of chocolate, a billion dollar industry that […]
Sudden death syndrome is, as the name would suggest, a devastating disease. It first emerged in Arkansas in 1971 and has since spread across the US and even into South America by the 1990’s, causing heavy fatalities. The fungus that causes it, Fusarium virguliforme, can be considered the root of one of the most deadly […]
Crop diseases have always been one of the main combatants in the war between farmers and nature. Regardless of the source, whether viral, bacterial, fungal, or other, diseases that affect plant health, growth, and production have devastated every type of crop ever grown. It has only been through strenuous effort that farmers have fought back […]
First published in 2000 under the title A Consumer’s Guide to GM Food: From Green Genes to Red Herrings, this book was devised by scientist Alan McHughen to act as a fundamental guide to agricultural biotechnology, how it works, and what the science has achieved. It was retitled to Pandora’s Picnic Basket when released in […]
The paper industry, even with the modern trend of digitization of materials and online news and book sources, continues to make the wood pulp market a large commercial force in the world, dominated by the use of Eucalyptus as a backbone for paper production. The use of Eucalyptus as oil has also seen a dramatic […]
All crops have to contend with parasites and pests, whether of the insect or bacterial variety, and farmers have to create multiple methods to protect their crops and farm yields. For legume farmers and the various types of beans they grow, it is the Bruchus family of beetles that continues to be one of the […]
At the turn of the decade, a new “scientific” fad diet began to spread across the internet and the nutrition community with claims of tiny particles destroying your body from the inside out. Remarks about how only a diet rich in specific fruits and vegetables and their protective antioxidants would keep you healthy and make […]
Rice is the most important crop ever cultivated by mankind. It has fed millions of people over millennia and has remained a staple food source for a majority of the world. The two most populous countries in the world by far, China and India, have had rice as a main product in their cuisine for […]
